138 THE COLLARED SUN- BIRD. 



The wings are glossed with green, and the upper 

 feathers of the tail are violet. You can scarcely 

 imagine the effect produced by a number of these 

 gorgeous birds, as they sit perched on the petals 

 of some brilliant spike of flowers, or as they 

 glitter and sparkle in the sun. There is a relation 

 of the Collared Sun- Bird that is, if possible, more 

 magnificent. It is called the Double -collared 

 Sun-Bird, and is much larger than the bird we 

 have been describing. It has the same arrange- 

 ment of colours, but the blue band is of a deeper 

 tint, and the crimson stripe is broader. It lives 

 in Africa, and chooses the forests that clothe the 

 eastern side of the continent. Now and then, it 

 descends into the plains, but it makes its nest in 

 the hollow of some forest tree ; and the mother- 

 bird lays four or five eggs. 



There is still another Collared Sun-Bird, a 

 dried specimen of which has been brought to 

 England. It is so much like the bird in the 

 Picture, that for a long time the two were thought 

 to be the same. 



The only difference between them is, that in 



